Chinese Whispers…
You may have heard the wartime anecdote about the request to send reinforcements, but the message got jumbled up somewhere along the line.
The original message was:
“Send reinforcements, we're going to advance.”
By the time the message reached its destination it became:
“Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance.”
Did you notice which words got confused?
For example the “ts" in reinforcements became “ce” (pronounced “s”) and the “v” of advance got completely lost! These differences in sound are extremely subtle – but look how much it has changed the meaning!
This is a good example of why it’s important for our ears to hear speech clearly. It enables us to hear and understand what’s being said – because often what we hear leads to action.
It's not about hearing, it's about understanding
We often find that when someone’s hearing begins to deteriorate it is this ability to understand speech that goes first. A person with hearing loss often thinks:
“I can hear you, but I can't understand what you're saying.”
It is easy to see why this is, when it is the subtle, quiet sounds – such as the “ts” and “v” in our example above – that give the meaning to a word.
Similarly, when children have some form of hearing loss they may have learning difficulties because they can’t understand what their parents and teachers are saying to them. What they hear very often forms the building blocks of further learning.
So what causes this deterioration in hearing?
Perhaps if we understand the causes, we can find a way to overcome it. But before we can understand how people can lose their hearing, we need to briefly look at how the ear works…
